


Fundamentals of Blogging

by anemicaxolotl



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Kissing, M/M, it's a little of both tbh, so you know, takes place between cooperative polygraphy and geothermal escapism, there's some pain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:20:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27608891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anemicaxolotl/pseuds/anemicaxolotl
Summary: Abed is still mad that Troy lied about their exclusive best friend handshake. Troy tries to plead his case.
Relationships: Troy Barnes/Abed Nadir
Comments: 16
Kudos: 122





	Fundamentals of Blogging

Abed appears in his doorway as he does most things, abruptly and without preamble. “What else came from that blog?”

Troy looks up guiltily from the duffel bag on his bed. “Huh?” He tries to act nonchalant as he slips an _Inspector Spacetime_ T-shirt into the bag; he’s not sure at this point if it’s his or Abed’s, but he’s hoping his friend won’t notice it missing either way.

At this moment, it doesn’t even seem to register to Abed that Troy is packing. He’s staring at the floor somewhere near Troy’s feet, and his hands are clenching and unclenching at his sides. “That blog you follow. The one you took the handshake from. What else did you steal and try to pass off as your own?”

Troy feels a sharp tug in his chest. “Abed, do we have to do this now?”

“What about _Friends Weekly?_ Or us moving in together? Did the blog tell you that’s what friends are supposed to do?”

“Man, what is wrong with you? Are you really trying to pick a fight right now? This is my last night here.” Troy abandons the pile of clothes on this bed and takes a step toward his friend.

Abed looks up at him, eyes tired, and Troy realizes that maybe that’s exactly why he’s choosing to pick a fight tonight. He thinks of the pillow war, how they would have kept fighting forever if Jeff hadn’t forced them apart. At least fighting is better than silence. Better than leaving.

“Come here,” Troy says, grabbing Abed by the sleeve and pulling him to his bed. He knocks his clothes to the floor to make room for the two of them to sit shoulder-to-shoulder, and then he opens his laptop. He clicks around for a moment before passing it to Abed. “Here. I bookmarked everything.”

Abed shoots Troy a sharp look before his eyes scan the screen, taking in line after line of bookmarked web pages: _Fun 4 Friends. Cool Friend Tricks. Best Friend Basics._ “Why are you showing me this?” he finally asks.

“Click on a couple of them,” Troy suggests, and so Abed does. There are dozens and dozens, maybe even hundreds, to choose from. Articles entitled “How to Be a Better Friend” and “30 Best Movies About Friendship.” There’s “8 Things You Must Discuss Before Moving In With Your Best Friend,” and “50 Christmas Gift Ideas Your Friend Will Totally Love,” and even “How to Support a Friend Who’s In Emotional Pain.”

A line appears between Abed’s eyes as he scrolls through the links. “Troy,” he says quietly, and it sounds like a question.

Troy’s hand brushes against Abed’s as he reaches over to open a few more links. “I Hurt My Friend’s Feelings – What Do I Do Now?” and “How to Make Up with Your Best Friend After a Fight.”

He sneaks a glance at Abed before he says, “I didn’t steal that handshake because I don’t care about us, dude. I stole it because I care about us _so much._ I know you always say I’m your first friend, but the truth is, I never had a best friend before you, either. I didn’t really know how to be one before you showed me, and once we started getting close, I wanted to impress you so badly. I would’ve done anything to make you happy. I just…needed some help figuring out how to do that.”

As Troy speaks, he studies Abed’s face. At first he looks confused, and then…maybe surprised. Like he never expected someone to put that much effort into him.

“I promise, Abed, this wasn’t me trying to cut corners in our friendship. I just wanted to give you the _best_ best friend experience I could. I’m sorry for lying about the handshake, though.”

Abed’s mouth quirks up at the corner, and he toys with Troy’s sleeve where it rests beside him on the laptop. “It’s okay. Sorry for overreacting. I guess I was just jealous at the thought of someone else out there doing something I thought was ours.”

He taps his finger against the touchpad and scrolls a little farther down the page. “What other cool stuff did you have bookmarked?” he asks, opening a link marked as a “Favorite.”

“Uh, wait, maybe don’t read that one–” Troy stammers as the link opens.

This one is a forum page, where a user named ButtSoup has posed a question: _What if you’re a guy and you’re pretty sure you’re straight but you think you might have a crush on your best friend who is also a guy?_

Troy can’t breathe. He stares at his kneecaps and wills Abed to say something, but he seems frozen beside Troy. His eyes are fixed on the webpage before him, and he holds himself like a statue. Troy wonders if the weirdness of his question has actually turned his best friend to stone.

“So, yeah, uh…a lot of people answered that question and said to just tell my friend how I feel. Which I never did, obviously.”

“You should have,” Abed forces out after a beat. “Because then your best friend could have told you that he likes you back instead of pining for you in secret since freshman year.”

Troy whips his head up to stare at Abed, who still won’t look at him. “No.”

Almost imperceptibly, Abed nods.

“No,” Troy repeats, “no, that’s not possible. Because that means – that means we could’ve had years together. Instead of me leaving tomorrow without knowing when I’ll ever even see you again – we wasted time when we could’ve had _years.”_

He feels like hyperventilating. He might be already, he can’t really tell. There are hot tears prickling behind his eyes, but he’s more focused on the loud rushing in his ears, like a wave threatening to knock him sideways and drag him under.

Before he can say anything else, or cry, or scream, Abed grabs his hand gently. He laces their fingers together and finally turns to look at him head on. “Troy,” he says quickly. “We _did_ have years.”

Troy shakes his head, but Abed keeps speaking. “You said it yourself – I never had a friend before you came into my life. And then suddenly we were _best_ friends, and we did so much cool stuff together – more than I ever dreamed I’d be able to do with another person. And you did all of this work behind the scenes to try and be a good friend because you knew I never had that before. I don’t consider that a waste, Troy, I consider that a miracle.”

A glowy sort of feeling starts to spread through Troy. “You do?”

“I do. Don’t you?”

“I guess,” Troy huffs, but backpedals when he feels Abed start to pull his hand away. “No, I mean of course I do. _Really._ It’s just – it’s so unfair, you know? We could’ve had all this time together!”

“Hm, I know. I guess I couldn’t see you outside of the hypermasculine jock type, which is dumb, because you’re obviously so much more than that.” Abed sighs. “But I always just assumed you were straight.”

“I always assumed you were–” Troy pauses. “Well, I don’t know. I guess I never thought about it one way or another. I just assumed it was impossible no matter what. Why would you be interested in dating me?”

“The former quarterback prom king with a heart of gold and a winning smile? Gee, I don’t know, Troy, why would _anyone_ be interested in dating you?”

Troy snorts. “You’re a lot better at sarcasm these days.” He glances down at where their hands are interlocked and brushes his thumb over Abed’s.

“Narrative convention would dictate we spend the rest of the night in a montage of passion and previously unspoken desires before you leave for an unspecified amount of time, but I don’t think I want to do that.” Abed shoots Troy a pleading look. “I don’t think I can let you go if I know what I’m going to be missing.”

Flushing at Abed’s words and their implication, Troy nods. “Yeah, let’s not…you know, jump the shark or whatever right before I leave.” He takes a deep breath before asking, very quietly, “But do you think it’s okay if we kiss? Just once?”

Nodding slowly, Abed leans forward to press his lips to Troy’s, very carefully, and then more firmly when Troy responds with a small gasp and a sigh. Abed’s hands move to cup Troy’s face, delicately tracing a thumb over his cheekbone while fingertips against the curve of his ear. Troy shivers.

“Um,” he breathes when Abed finally pulls away. “Maybe one more kiss for good luck?”

It’s not exactly a montage of passion and previously unspoken desires, but they spend more time than they care to calculate wrapped in each other’s arms, their kisses alternating between slow, lazy explorations and frenzied, desperate declarations of _something_ kept hidden for far too long. Tangled together, they eventually fall asleep.

Abed leaves Troy early in the morning with a sinking feeling of regret, hating to slip away so abruptly but knowing he has to make it to Greendale before the lava creeping in at the edges of his vision swallows the very ground he’s standing on. He can’t bear to be there when Troy gets out of bed, can’t stand the thought of seeing the others until he has a plan to keep them off the ground.

Perched on the counter of Greendale’s empty main office, Abed flips through a few pages of Google search results before landing on what seems to be a promising site. He copies the URL and sends the link in an email to Troy – something to put a smile on his face after he notices Abed is missing from his bed. _Long-Distance Love Life: A Blog Full of Tips & Advice for Staying Together Even When You’re Apart. _

Abed smiles lightly as he tucks his phone back into his pocket, swinging his legs as he waits for Greendale to come to life around him, trying to ignore the lava gurgling only inches below his feet.

**Author's Note:**

> I just couldn't stop thinking of Troy following blogs to try and be a good friend to Abed :( These sweet boys. Thanks for reading! Find me yelling into the void about Trobed @ slutabed on Tumblr.


End file.
